Sita asks Rama to fetch the golden deer, from the “Shangri” Ramayana (c. 1700–1725): Art, History and Details

Sita asks Rama to fetch the golden deer, from the “Shangri” Ramayana (c. 1700–1725) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Sita exclaims to Rama, “What an exquisite deer! He has stolen my heart away. Please catch him for me, my great-armed husband. He shall be our plaything. . . . Never before have we seen an animal such as this. His body sparkles with different colors and is speckled with chips of precious stones; he illuminates the entire forest, for with his golden hide and horns of precious gems, he shows all the brilliance of the morning sun, all the luster of the starry heavens.” Lakshmana is suspicious and warns against having anything to do with the enchanting deer.

Object facts

• Title: Sita asks Rama to fetch the golden deer, from the “Shangri” Ramayana
• Date: c. 1700–1725
• Culture: Northern India, Pahari kingdoms, Himachal Pradesh
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Page: 21.2 x 31.5 cm (8 3/8 x 12 3/8 in.); Painting: 18.2 x 28.2 cm (7 3/16 x 11 1/8 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2025.7

A detail from the museum

The spots on the golden deer show that it shimmers with multiple colors.

Collection credit

Sundry Art - Miscellaneous Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.